Arrest in absentia of four Ukranians for attacks on Russian diplomatic forces

The Ukranians have now been included in the International Most Wanted list.

Four Ukrainian nationals, including members of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) Vladimir Parasyuk, have been arrested in absentia in Russia for attacking Russian diplomatic missions in 2014-2016 and put on the international wanted list, Russian Investigative Committee Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said on Wednesday.The investigation has established that Ukrainian citizens Vladimir Romantsev, Alexey Bakay and Vladimir Nazarenko were actively involved in the willful damage of the property of the Russian diplomatic mission, while the latter also took part in desecrating Russia’s national flag,” she said.

Petrenko added that member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Vladimir Parasyuk was involved in the attack on the Russian Consulate General in Lvov in March 2016 and the abuse of Russia’s national flag.

“The above-mentioned individuals have been put on the international wanted list and, at the request of investigators, the court has imposed in absentia a pre-trial restraint in the form of custody on them,” Petrenko said.

Charge in absentia

According to Petrenko, on the basis of the evidence collected by investigators, including video recordings obtained from open sources and the results of forensic examinations, a decision was made to involve the four individuals as defendants for committing a crime under Part 2 of Section 360 of Russia’s Criminal Code (“Attack on an institution that enjoys international protection committed with a view to complicating international relations”). Nazarenko and Parasyuk are also charged under Section 329 of Russia’s Criminal Code (“Abuse of Russia’s national flag”).

Petrenko noted that the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies “have been conducting their own investigations over attacks on the Russian diplomatic missions for a long time, during which no one has been charged with a criminal offense so far.”

“Despite the fact that Ukraine actually refused to comply with the requests for legal assistance from Russian investigators, the Investigative Committee is pushing ahead with its efforts to identify and bring to justice all the individuals who took part in the above-mentioned attacks on the Russian diplomatic missions abroad,” she stressed.